flyaway girls are all giggles and curls
by you are my elysium
Summary: She's a flyaway girl, all giggles and curls and no substance, or, at least, that what he thinks when he first sees her and decides that he hates her. Sometimes, though, first impressions aren't right and it's so easy to turn hate into love... /Seamus, Lavender and overcoming first impressions.


**Yes, it's fluffy. Yes, it has minimal plot besides fluff (although I do my best to show how a relationship changes and grows over the years :P). And, yes, I enjoyed writing it so much that I kept it in for longer than I keep in most stories because I didn't want to stop writing it :D. And, before you ask, I'm a little bit in love with Seamus. And, yes, I know that technically Seamus's surname is spelled 'Finnigan' but somewhere along the line I started writing it as 'Finnegan' and for some reason I prefer writing it that way so that's the way I've spelled his surname here. **

**Also, in case you hadn't guessed, Seamus/Lavender is one of my favourite pairings so I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this :). And it'd be lovely if you let me know what you thought of it, too :P.**

* * *

**First Year**

She's a flyaway girl, all giggles and curls and no substance.

At least, that's what Seamus thinks when he first sees her on the train to Hogwarts.

He's searching for an empty (or near-empty) compartment and he stumbles into one that has just enough room left in it for him to squeeze in. He squishes in between a dark-skinned boy with blinding white teeth and a skinny arrogant-looking boy with teeth that could be whiter.

"Hey," Seamus greets the other two boys with a cheerful smile. "I'm Seamus."

"Hi, I'm Dean," the dark-skinned boy's smile showcases his white teeth even more than before.

The teeth-could-be-whiter boy on Seamus's other side manages something in between a grimace and a smirk. "Zacharias."

Seamus glances at the students sitting opposite him expectantly. "You guys?"

A pretty dark-haired girl sticks out her hand for Seamus to shake. "Hey. I'm Parvati. Are you a first-year, too?"

"Yeah," Seamus shakes the proffered hand. They all seem nice enough, he thinks, eyes flickering over the remaining two occupants of the compartment. "Are you two twins?"

Parvati glances at the girl sitting next to her who is staring out of the window, seemingly lost in thought. "Yeah - that's Padma. She's a little nervous..."

Padma hardly seems to notice the other people in the compartment, her forehead pressing up against the glass of the window in what appears to be deep concentration.

Seamus shrugs indifferently before looking at the blonde girl on Parvati's right. "What's your name?"

He's not really sure why, but the girl giggles. "Lavender, nice to meet you."

"Yeah," Seamus says unconvincingly. He's already decided that he doesn't like her - what kind of girl giggles like that upon meeting somebody? Visions of the girl giggling similarly over dresses, puppies and jewellery float into his mind.

"You like football?" the dark-skinned boy - Dean - asks casually after a few minutes of awkward silence. This effectively clears up the atmosphere as Seamus and Zacharias both look bemused and ask Dean what in the name of Merlin is 'football'?

The rest of the train ride is spent discussing the differences between football and Quidditch, and informing Dean in detail about the different Houses and their reputations.

Seamus gets off the train with firm opinions on all the people that had been in his compartment. Dean is going to be his best friend, Zacharias is going to be the boy they make fun of and Seamus is going to have nothing to do with Padma - although Parvati seems alright.

And, of course, that giggling girl Lavender is a downright pain the arse.

**Second Year**

There's sobbing in the common room - not at all unusual from the younger students these days - and Seamus would normally ignore it and let someone else deal with the tears. It's late, though, and everybody else has gone to bed. The only reason Seamus is still up is because his essay is late _again_ and if he doesn't hand this one in by tomorrow he's in no doubt about the fact that Professor McGonagall is going to not only knock points off Gryffindor but also give him detention. She's already got her eye on him thanks to him setting his notes on fire during last week's class.

Seamus pointedly ignores the sobs for all of five minutes, staring at the ink dripping from his quill onto the parchment, blurring several words. He's overdosed on the ink supply again, he supposes, as the only other one of his friends who has the same problem is Ron and if he considers what both he and Ron have in common it's the ability to be laughably unobservant. Not that there's much Seamus can do about the dripping ink now, especially with those annoying sobs in the background of what is meant to be a quiet common room.

Now the sobs have become rhythmic - hiccup-sob-hiccup-sob-blow nose-hiccup-sob... the sound is driving Seamus nuts.

He scrapes his chair against the floor as he rises to his feet, head swinging around as he looks for the culprit of the rhythmic sobbing. His eyes land on a girl sitting on an armchair in front of the dying fire. He can just make out the curls on the girl's head and his heart sinks as he realises who it must be.

"Lavender?" he asks tentatively as he makes his way over to where she is sitting. The only thing Seamus hates more than crying girls is Lavender Brown herself (although if it comes down to it, he probably hates that slimy git Zacharias a little more than her).

She jerks her head up to gaze at him through swollen red eyes and a snotty nose. He thinks to himself that he hasn't ever seen something quite as unattractive as her since the time his aunt brought home a hairless cat with a peculiarly chilling look in its eyes.

"G-g-go away-y," she sobs at him, pausing in between words to hiccup. The handkerchief in her hands is drenched and Seamus wrinkles his nose slightly in distaste.

"Okay," he shrugs and turns around, more than happy that he has done his rightful duty to check up on her and has been dismissed.

She blinks at his retreating figure in surprise before choking out. "W-w-wait -" hiccup - "w-w-where are you g-going?"

Seamus pauses and turns to her reluctantly. "I'm going away... isn't that what you wanted?"

"I...," she seems at a loss for words. "I... y-yes... but... no. No."

"What's the matter with you?" Seamus asks impatiently, scratching his head. His fingers are - for once - itching to get back to essay-writing and he figures that if he'd been put in Slytherin and he didn't have any expectations of honour to uphold, he'd have already been sitting down at the table with quill in hand again.

Lavender looks taken aback, handkerchief hanging limply from her hand. "E-excuse me?"

"What do you want me to do?" Seamus rephrases bluntly, eyes flickering down to his ink-stained hands. He wonders whether he transferred some of that ink to his hair when he scratched his head.

"I don't know! I-I... _I'm_ the one c-c-crying!" she points out, raising the handkerchief to wipe her nose once more. Her tear-filled eyes are gazing at him with a mixture of disbelief and expectancy, the dying fire behind her making her already reddened face take on an almost burned glow that sends unpleasant shivers down Seamus's spine.

"Um... okay...," Seamus searches for something to say that will live up to her expectations. "Er... what's wrong?"

Seeming somewhat mollified with his attempt, Lavender lets out another strangled sob. "A-a-another girl got P-p... Petri-f-f-fied..."

"Was she your friend?" Seamus shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other, eyes glancing longingly at his once-hated essay. Thank goodness that Dean never cries like this - Seamus doesn't think he'd be able to handle this on a regular basis.

"N-n-no," her curls bounce as she shakes her head.

Seamus gazes at the girl in bemusement. "Then why're you so upset? I mean... none of us are happy about it, but why're you crying so much?"

She shoots him an evil look. "S-she's a p-person. And what if I'm _next_?"

"Um... don't worry?"

Lavender heaves a sigh and steadies her breathing somewhat. Her sobs are sporadic now and her eyes are no longer tear-filled, although there are several tears still making their way down her cheeks, one slipping off the tip of her nose. "You're not very g-good at this, are you?"

"Um, no...," Seamus shrugs nonchalantly, his aura radiating indifference. He clasps his inky hands together behind his head and gazes down at the red-faced girl in front of him, wondering what he should do now that she seems to have calmed down. He wonders what the usually accepted time to leave a distressed person who is calming down is.

She stares at him for a few more seconds, as though awaiting some answer a little more enlightening than the one he has given her. Eventually coming to the conclusion that she's not going to get one, she sighs and rises from the armchair.

The last sparks of the fire die out as she makes her way past Seamus and towards the girls' dormitories, only sparing him a glance as she reaches the staircase. "Well... um... thanks, anyway."

Seamus gives her another of his nonchalant shrugs (he has them down to perfection now). He turns in the direction of his essay once more without so much as a 'good night' to the girl.

He mentally revises his image of her in his head to the 'giggling girl who likes to cry'.

**Third Year**

"Oi, Williams!"

Seamus turns around, wondering where the voice is coming from. He knows that it's not addressing him, but it's a shock nevertheless to hear such venom in a mere name.

His eyes land on a shivering second-year that he recognises as being from Ravenclaw. The boy looks as though he's torn between crying and running away as two Slytherin boys and - Seamus realises this with slight shock - a Gryffindor girl and boy approach the second-year.

He can't quite hear what they're saying and a part of him is telling him to just keep walking. He's a Gryffindor, though, and the thought of just leaving repels him slightly - especially when he knows that two of his own Housemates are helping to corner a helpless student.

Words like 'you'll pay', 'father' and 'blood traitor' drift over to Seamus and he takes a few steps forward, ready to intervene but not sure how he's going to fend off four fifth-year students when he's only a third-year himself.

He hears marching footsteps beat him to the fifth-years and is surprised when Lavender's angry voice carries over to him, a couple notches higher than it usually is.

"You fucking _bastards_!" she yells as she storms over, directing her wand at one of the Slytherin boys. "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

He falls down, frozen. The other three stare at her in surprise before drawing their own wands, Ravenclaw boy forgotten. The second-year hastily makes a run for it whilst their attention is on Lavender.

"_Stupefy_!" the Gryffindor girl's spell narrowly misses Lavender.

Seamus glances from the wand in his hand to the three older students and decides that he might as well join in. He's never been one to stay out of a fight, anyway.

"_Incendio!_" Seamus uses his favourite spell and sets the other Slytherin boy's robes on fire, resulting in some very high-pitched squeaks from aforementioned boy.

The Gryffindor boy aims his wand at Lavender and mutters. "_Furnunculus_."

Lavender squeals as her skin breaks out into nasty looking boils, gazing at her once-smooth hand in horror. Her break in concentration costs her, however, and before Seamus can do anything to warn her, the Slytherin boy with now-burned robes shoots off a well-aimed _Stupefy_ at Lavender and she goes rigid, eyes still wide.

Seamus's own eyes flicker from the Slytherin to the now-rigid Lavender and he knows that he's pretty much doomed. It's three against one, after all. He prepares himself to go out with a bang and is about to set fire to the Gryffindor girl's long, wavy black hair when they all hear a stern voice interrupt their duel.

"Stop this at _once_!"

Simultaneously, they all wince and turn to look upon the disapproving face of Professor McGonagall. Her robes swirling behind her, she stalks up to them and her eyes take in the rigid, wide-eyed Lavender, the burnt robes of the Slytherin boy and the fallen form of the other Slytherin.

"What is going on here?" she demands, eyes cold and sharp. Seamus stifles a shudder.

Silence is her only answer, the students all looking at one another as though daring anyone to speak up and explain.

She waits a few more moments before sighing. "Very well then. Twenty points from Slytherin and forty points from Gryffindor -" at the protestations from the Gryffindors, she adds sharply - "Ten points for each one of you who participated in this. Does that not seem fair? Or would you like me to take forty points off Slytherin, too?"

Nobody answers, so she nods brusquely. "And a week's detention to all of you. _Together_."

Unhappy nods all around, the once fierce-looking fifth-years uncannily resembling cowed puppies. The professor flicks her wand at the frozen students and they blink as their limbs come back to life.

"Mr. Finnegan, escort Miss Brown to the Hospital Wing - she might want to get those boils looked at," McGonagall continues, tucking her wand back into her sleeve. Her eyes fall on the other students, who, apart from some bruises, seem relatively unharmed. "And as for the rest of you... aren't you supposed to be at dinner?"

They scramble away from her without another word and Seamus and Lavender watch McGonagall sweep away before they reluctantly turn in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

They walk for a few minutes in uncomfortable silence, Lavender examining her boils and Seamus gazing intently at the floor. It's not until they turn around the corner and up a flight of moving stairs that Seamus finally breaks the silence.

"Why'd you do that?"

Lavender starts. She turns to look at him in faint surprise, as though she'd been expecting a whole walk of silence. "Um... well... it's not the first time they've done that. They're always picking on that Williams kid, and Baker from Hufflepuff, too."

Seamus stares, puzzled. He grips tightly onto the banister of the staircase as the stairs change direction, bringing them closer to the Hospital Wing. "Why? What've they done to deserve that?"

"You don't know?" she seems almost shocked at his ignorance. "It's 'cause Williams and Baker have parents in the the Ministry's legal system. And I mean that their parents are part of the actual judging of who gets what punishment. Those Gryffindors and Slytherins have just had their parents jailed in Azkaban for life for supporting You-Know-Who, even though it took ages to find convincing evidence to frame them."

"All of them together?"

"Well, the Slytherins are twins... and the Gryffindors' parents were big supporters of You-Know-Who when he was around and they helped him when they could, too. The thing is, it's one thing to be a big supporter of You-Know-Who but it's another thing to find the right evidence to put them in Azkaban," Lavender glances at him out of the corner of her eye, as though expecting him to nod in remembrance or realisation.

Instead, all she gets are wide-eyes and incredulousness. "How do you even _know_ all of that? And that doesn't explain why you barged in swearing at them."

"It kind of does," Lavender says defensively, her usual giggle-girl blue eyes serious. "They've been doing that quite a lot recently to Williams and Baker but this is the first proper time they've been caught, I think. Anyway -" she flushes slightly - "I tend to lose my temper quite easily..."

Seamus studies her briefly, curious. He can't really imagine Lavender Brown as being foul-mouthed and bad-tempered - up until now the worst thing he's seen her do is throw a hissy fit when her mum sent her the wrong dress for a party (which made him wonder at the time how any one girl could be as spoilt as her).

They turn the final corner and start the walk down the corridor that the Hospital Wing is situated on. He runs a hand through his hair, wondering whether he may have to rethink his analysation of Lavender.

"Seriously, though, how do you know so much?" he asks eventually, as they pause at the doors to the Hospital Wing. He thinks (although he wisely chooses not to say this aloud) that her boils are bigger than they were when they first started the walk.

"Oh, well... my parents both work in the Ministry, too. They always come home and talk about what's happening and this Christmas _everybody_ in the Ministry was talking about it, anyway, and my dad explained to me what was going on," she explains as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a thirteen-year-old to know all about this.

Seamus shrugs in resignation (he figures he's never going to quite understand the way this girl works, one minute acting princess-spoiled and the next suddenly seeming to be Ministry-informed). "Um... wow... that's interesting."

She snorts at him, although he can see the giggly look come back into her eyes. Goodness knows what prompted it to return. "You sound _enthralled_ -" cue giggles.

Seamus walks away from her with another shrug of his shoulders (it has become his default reaction with her).

Yet even as he is walking away from her, he discovers that he doesn't think she's so bad after all. Sure, he doesn't think he'll be deliberately seeking out her company any time soon, but the prospect of talking to her now and then doesn't seem as unbearable as it once did.

**Fourth Year**

"We've got to find a _date_?" Seamus splutters indignantly as he and Dean make their way towards the Gryffindor common room. "Is somebody _trying_ to take the mickey out of us?"

Dean chuckles. "S'not so bad. And you don't really _have_ to have a date - only the Champions have to."

"Yeah, but if I turn up without a date I look bad," Seamus sighs. He doesn't care overly much about what others think, yet the idea of being known as the 'boy who can't get a date' doesn't particularly appeal to him. "Who're you going to ask?"

"I dunno," Dean looks thoughtful - an expression that rarely appears upon Seamus's face. "I was thinking maybe Lisa Turpin."

"From Ravenclaw?" Seamus glances at his friend in surprise. "Do you even talk to her?"

"I do!" Dean says defensively, his dark skin taking on a faintly reddish tinge. "And I kind of like her, you know..."

Seamus sniggers, but makes no further comment on Dean's choice of date. They arrive at the portrait of the Fat Lady and Dean mutters the password. The portrait swings open and they clamber inside, making a beeline for a pair of cushy armchairs in the corner of the people-filled common room.

"Who'd you want to ask?" Dean queries as they flop down inelegantly into the armchairs. Dean fishes a squashed piece of candy from his pocket and unwraps it, popping it into his mouth contentedly.

Seamus fiddles with his wand, accidentally setting a seventh-year's hair on fire. He hastily shoves his wand into the sleeve of his robes and looks innocently back at Dean, ignoring the panicked shout of the seventh-year as she looks around for the culprit.

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know... Angelina Johnson?"

It's Dean's turn to snicker. "I don't want to be unsupportive, mate, but she's a _little_ out of your league."

"Oi," Seamus says, putting on an offended look. "I could ask her if I wanted to."

"Oh yeah?" Dean looks unconvinced. "Fine. I dare you."

Seamus shakes sandy hair out of his eyes, searching for the Quidditch player. "Yeah? Well, I will... she's not here, though, so I'll have to do it later."

"Yeah, right," Dean closes his eyes, a smirk gracing his face. "You'd be too chicken to do it anyway."

"Would not," Seamus mutters grumpily. Of course, Dean is right - Angelina is a sixth-year Quidditch player who is also rumoured to have a crush on Fred Weasley, she'd never even _look_ at Seamus let alone go to the Yule Ball as his date.

"Hey, boys!"

Seamus jerks his head around to look for the source of the noise - it isn't difficult, as Lavender is bouncing up to them, Parvati trailing behind her friend.

"You'll never _guess_ what happened today!" Lavender squeals, clutching a Potions book to her chest.

Parvati halts next to Lavender, dark eyes gleaming. "Zabini asked out _Mandy_."

"Mandy Brocklehurst? That girl from Ravenclaw?" Dean asks curiously whilst Lavender thwacks Parvati with the Potions book, scolding her for not letting the boys guess what had happened.

"Hmm?" Lavender turns back to the boys, giggling once more. "Oh yes. They had a ma_hoo_sive argument in the _middle_ of the corridor and she even slapped him! And then -"

"- he suddenly yelled at her and asked her if she wanted to go to the Yule Ball with him... and she accepted, of course," Parvati finishes, bangles jangling as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It was so _romantic_," Lavender sighs dreamily.

Dean and Seamus exchange befuddled looks. What in the name of Merlin was romantic about a shouting match? However, Parvati seems to agree with Lavender and the two sit down on the floor in front of the boys, launching into a detailed description of the event.

Seamus isn't really paying attention to the girls as an idea has suddenly occurred to him. He leans forward speculatively in his chair, fingers entwining as he looks at the two girls. "Hey, Lavender."

"Mmm?" Lavender pauses mid-sentence as she turns to look at Seamus, her eyes showing that she doesn't appreciate being interrupted.

"Will you go to the Ball with me?" Seamus puts forward his most charming smile, and is half-pleased half-surprised when Lavender flushes a bright red and Parvati giggles and nudges her friend knowingly.

Seamus glances at Dean as though his friend can tell him what's going on, but the other boy looks about as interested in the conversation as a rabbit is in a stone and appears to be off in his own fairy world (no doubt thinking up ways to ask Lisa Turpin out that won't result in humiliation).

"Erm, yes... yeah... yeah I will. I'd love to," Lavender manages finally, bringing Seamus's attention back to her. Parvati is looking at Dean expectantly, but Dean is already halfway out his chair, having evidently figured out how to go about his task.

"Oh, um... great," Seamus nods semi-enthusiastically, although he's pleased that he won't have to face the embarrassment of going alone.

The two girls move on to discussing dresses for the Ball and Seamus slopes off before they can drag him into it (as they have done before). He's a little disturbed by the fact that he just caught himself thinking that Lavender is kinda sorta a little bit pretty.

**xXxXx**

Seamus only spends the first few dances with Lavender before he excuses himself and plucks up the courage to ask Megan Jones - a frizzy-haired Hufflepuff that he's had his eye on - to dance.

He gets his first kiss from said frizzy-haired Hufflepuff when they sneak away from the crowded dance-floor (Seamus blissfully unaware of Lavender's hurt eyes following them as they leave). Megan pulls him into an empty classroom and stares at him with fiery eyes for a few seconds before he leans down and presses his lips against hers.

It's far from perfect as neither really know what they're doing. There's too much nose-bumping and nervous attempts at tongue-touching, but as Seamus has nothing to compare it to he's in heaven anyway.

Seamus also gets his first girlfriend in the form of Megan Jones, although they last barely a week before she yells at him for being immature and his eye lands on Tracey Davis (whom he proceeds to pursue and eventually winds up losing not only his virginity to but also his heart - the latter of which she breaks sometime in February of their fifth-year when he catches her in a rather compromising position with a certain Theodore Nott).

**Fifth Year**

Seamus is lounging around in the corner of the Room of Requirement, watching as the other members of the D.A. throw spells at each other, some hitting the target and others giggling as their spell misses by miles. A few, like Seamus, have given up practicing for the moment and are catching their breaths - some in more productive ways than others (he sees Anthony Goldstein and Susan Bones seemingly trying to eat each other's faces off in another corner of the room).

Harry claps his hands to draw their attention to him and tells everybody that the session is over, and several people protest but he waves them all off and merely tells them to be careful and stay alert.

Seamus files out after the other D.A. members, feeling his singed eyebrows ruefully. He really had not seen Neville's well-aimed spell coming, having been too busy daydreaming about how his fist would meet Nott's face later on that day (it has only been a week since Seamus caught Tracey and Nott together, and he is still in a state of half-anger half-heartbreak).

He is already out of the room and halfway down the corridor when he hears light, hurried footsteps behind him and then feels a gentle tap on his shoulder.

"Lavender?" he queries when he turns around and sees who it is. She's slightly breathless from running to catch up to him, and her face is tinged pink.

"Um...," her voice sounds slightly strangled. She glances around hesitantly. "C-can I talk to you for a moment?"

His eyebrows shoot up when he realises that she looks almost... scared. "Er, okay. Sure."

She grabs his sleeve and tugs him along the corridor until they find a seemingly abandoned classroom (judging by the amount of cobwebs and dust that have accumulated in every possible nook and cranny of the room). She shuts the door carefully behind them and wrinkles her nose briefly in distaste as she takes in the room.

"Lavender? You wanted to talk to me?" he reminds her after a few seconds, when it's clear that she's not going to make the first move.

Her blue eyes stare up at him, suddenly looking as though they belong to a cornered animal rather than a Gryffindor. "Oh... um... yeah."

Seamus scratches his head and kicks at the ground, causing dust to swirl up from the floor. He coughs slightly and raises his gaze to hers once more. "And?"

"Well," her fingers are digging into the edge of a dirty brown desk and she's biting her lip nervously (he wonders what on earth she has to tell him that could merit this amount of hesitation). "You see... I... er... I really like you, Seamus."

He plays dumb, trying to think of an appropriate reaction. "So?"

"I mean...," she looks at him in frustration, "... I _really_ like you. As more than a friend."

Okay, so he can't technically play dumb anymore. Not that he won't try. "What?"

"I. Like. You," she grinds out, her cheeks flushing as deep a shade of pink as he's ever seen.

"Oh," Seamus scrambles for a way out of this. He can't find any. "Um... Lavender... I... I really like you, too - but as a friend -" he adds hastily when he sees her eyes light up - "and I... I don't want to..."

He curses silently when he sees her lower lip tremble and her grip on the desk noticeably tightens. Her voice is slightly shaky. "I... see."

"I'm really sorry, Lavender. Really sorry. I swear, I wouldn't... I mean... if I even thought I could feel just a _little_ bit like that towards you I'd say so... I mean," he hastily tries to backpedal, sensing that he's said the wrong thing when her eyes start to fill with tears. Seamus has never been particularly good in situations which involving crying (or near-to-tears) girls and today is no exception.

"It's okay, S-Seamus," she manages, angrily wiping her sleeve across her eyes.

"No, no it's not," he shakes his head. "I really like you. I like you a lot as a friend, but I just don't..."

She sighs and smiles a watery smile up at him. "Well, at least you're honest. Anyway... I just thought... I don't know... I suppose I wanted to let you know how I felt... and we're still friends, right? I mean, this doesn't change anything?"

In actuality, it changes a lot more than they both realise at the time, and Seamus uncomfortably wonders whether he'll ever be able to look at Lavender in quite the same way (although he keeps this to himself, seeing as how he really doesn't want to cause more tears).

"Of course we're still friends, Lav."

She gives him another watery smile and they traipse out of the classroom, the silence unbearable until Lavender breaks it with a hiccup and they both end up laughing as she can't stop hiccuping all the way back to the Gryffindor common room.

It's only later that night that Seamus half-consciously realises that he thinks Lavender is actually a little bit more than 'kinda sort a little bit pretty'. In fact, when she's not crying, he thinks that she might just be getting close to beautiful.

**Sixth Year**

Lavender spins dizzily several times before plopping herself down on the sofa in between Seamus and Parvati, taking Dean's recently vacated seat (he saw Dean and Ginny leave the common room hand in hand a little while ago - for purposes that he somehow doubts are very innocent).

Parvati giggles at the flushed, wide-eyed Lavender. "Merlin, Lavender, you look a bit drunk."

"I _feel_ drunk," Lavender responds giddily, smoothing out her skirt and resting her head against the sofa.

"Let me guess... Ron?" Parvati asks, leaning in eagerly. "Details, details, details."

Seamus groans. "Please, no. No details."

Lavender glances at them both in turn, her eyes bright. "Well... let's just say that I think I'm in love."

They both blink at her for a few seconds as she giggles, her cheeks turning a pale pink shade. She twists a blond curl around her finger, waiting for some kind of response from them. She doesn't have to wait long.

"Oh God, _really_?" Parvati squeals, grabbing onto Lavender's arm and shaking her friend. "When? How? What made you realise?"

"Oh... well... we were... um... kissing the other day and I realised that I've never felt this way about anybody before. _Ever_," is it just him, or does Lavender shoot him a pointed look? "And then I realised that the way I felt was love."

Seamus raises his eyebrows sceptically at her explanation (the way she's described it doesn't sound very deep or meaningful to him - not like how he's been taught love feels). "You sure it's not just... I dunno... _lust_?"

They both ignore him in favour of Lavender continuing cheerfully. "And, you know, the way I feel about him is... _amazing_. I love being around him and I love how he's so funny and brave and... yeah... amazing. And when we're together it's just... _beautiful_."

This last comment elicits a delighted squeal from Parvati and a disgusted groan from Seamus. More people have started to tumble into the common room as it nears bedtime, and the general volume of the room is increasing. This, coupled with the fact that Lavender has just said that she's in _love_ with Ronald Weasley (it bothers him, it just does), is giving him a headache and so he mumbles some lame excuse about needing to go to study in his dorm and leaves as quickly as he can.

He's slightly surprised to find Dean in their dorm - he must have snuck back at some point whilst Seamus's attention was occupied by Lavender and her newfound love description.

"You okay, mate?" Dean asks as Seamus falls face first onto Dean's bed.

"Mmph."

"Er... Seamus?" Dean sits down next to Seamus, stifling a yawn. Even though his nose is pressed against Dean's duvet, Seamus can faintly smell Ginny's perfume on Dean. He wrinkles his nose (as much as you can when it's being squashed) and rolls himself onto his back.

"I've got a headache," Seamus says by way of explanation.

Dean waits patiently, lifting his duvet up and getting into bed, forcing Seamus to shift into a sitting position as Dean makes himself comfortable. He then proceeds to give Seamus a piercing look that makes the Irish boy shrug uncomfortably.

A few more minutes of silence, Seamus replaying Lavender's giggles and declarations of love for Ron in his mind. Then:

"Dean, I think I've made a mistake."

**xXxXx**

Seamus isn't one for sentimentality, and he firmly believes that most of that whole 'when you're in love you feel what the other person feels' etc. thing is crap. He also believes that love is only just a little step further down the path from 'like' - how different can the two really be, after all?

All of this is tied up in a plastic bag and thrown out the window, though, when Parvati grabs him by the arm and asks him urgently whether he's seen Lavender. It's not so much the question that scares him, but more the way she says the words and the way her brown eyes are wide and concerned.

"N-no, why?" Seamus stutters, his own eyes widening.

"She and Ron broke up yesterday," Parvati lowers her voice. "I haven't seen her since this morning. And it's Saturday - you know Lavender, she's normally in the common room or on the grounds on a weekend. _Especially_ when the weather's been so nice. But I haven't seen her and I've checked everywhere she normally goes."

Seamus glances around at the other students who are making their way to dinner, some laughing uproariously at a joke that one of their friends has just made. He searches for Lavender's blonde hair (which he's pretty sure he could have spotted in a crowd twice this size), but fails to see her anywhere.

"You go to dinner," he says eventually to Parvati, who is looking at him anxiously. "I... I'll go look for her."

Parvati bites her lip. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You've been looking for her already anyway. Save us some dinner, though?" Seamus asks and the girl nods in agreement before winding her way through the students towards the appetising smell of food.

Seamus pushes his way against the flow of other students, his mind racing. Where would Lavender go to be alone? Not the library, nor the girls' dormitories, nor even the girls' bathrooms (where he knows a lot of girls go to cry out their woes)... his eyes light up as his mind lands on a possibility. Surely she wouldn't... but she might, his mind argues. He decides to make his way there anyway. It's a chance, and one he's willing to take.

He makes his way towards the Room of Requirement and he wanders along the corridor leading up to it until he reaches the creaky wooden door that opens into the abandoned classroom. He presses his ear against it, hearing nothing. She'd probably have put a Silencing spell on it if she were in there, though, he reasons. Especially considering that she's Lavender and Lavender doesn't cry quietly.

He turns the doorknob, and he's surprised to find that it isn't locked. Peeking his head around the door, he finds himself staring into pitch-blackness. "Lavender?"

"G-go away," he hears her voice mumble and he inwardly sighs with relief. Not only has he found her, but at least he's in a situation that (thanks to her) he's now kind of used to.

He slips into the room and closes the door softly behind him. He pulls out his wand. "_Lumos_."

The spell sheds some light into the dusty classroom, and he inhales the stale air. How can she stand it in here? It smells like moths, dead insects and old wood. Not a particularly appealing aroma, in his opinion.

His eyes fall on her and he's surprised when his heart actually feels as though somebody has just reached in and twisted it. He frowns to himself, slightly unnerved by the feeling, but pushes it out of his mind and instead makes his way over to where she's sitting, back against the wall and drenched handkerchief in hand (he supposes that it's a good thing Lavender always seems to carry around a handkerchief).

He sits down next to her and takes in her red eyes and nose, messy hair and blotchy cheeks. She's not a pretty sight, but at that moment in time he finds that he couldn't care less. "I'm sorry."

She snorts. "Why? You didn't do anything."

"I know, but I don't like seeing you like this," he says honestly, putting his arm around her. "Parvati's really worried about you, you know. She was thinking of missing dinner and all to find you.""Figures that you'd think missing dinner for a friend is a big deal," Lavender laughs, but the laugh is stiff and sounds faintly croaky, as though she hasn't had water in a long time.

"It is," Seamus maintains - in a way, he thinks, he might as well just tell her that he loves her (he basically is). He feels her eyes on him and he wonders what she's going to say when she figures it all out. He doesn't know whether he really wants her to figure it out, because, _heck_, he only just figured it out himself.

"So why'd you offer to go instead?" Lavender asks curiously, somehow finding a dry corner on her handkerchief and daubing her eyes with it.

Seamus shifts and changes the subject. "Why did you break up?"

He immediately wishes that he could take it back, but it's too late now. Surprisingly, though, her eyes remain relatively dry and she sighs. "He likes Hermione... he's liked her the whole _time_. I can't believe that he didn't just... I don't know... but he chose her _over_ me... and I was there for him when he was sick, you know? And he just... and I wish we hadn't broken up, you know... I love him..."

"Hermione's been there for him since they were first-years," Seamus points out bluntly, never failing to live up to his reputation as a wonderful shoulder to cry on. "And it's not like you and him were doing much but snogging anyway."

Lavender stares at him blankly, as though unable to process the fact that he can be so unsympathetic. Her blue eyes fill with unshed tears once more, and several escape down her cheeks. Seamus begins to bitterly regret his rather blunt (though true, in his opinion) words as he feels that hand twisting his heart once again as he watches her cry.

"Shit, Lavender... I... I'm sorry... I don't know what to say...," he mumbles helplessly. It's crazy, but for the first time in his short life he wishes that he could be like Dean (who knows his way with words and is always there to comfort) or Michael (who can make you laugh in the middle of your sob-fest) or even Ron (who is awkward but endearingly so - or, at least, that's what the girls have told Seamus - and one can't help but smile at his good-hearted attempts at comforting). But Seamus is Seamus and he sticks his foot in his mouth in an un-endearing way and his honesty is not the poetic honesty of Dean but the brutal honesty of the world as Seamus sees it, and his humour is not the warm gentle humour of Michael but instead the 'ha-ha, he got hurt' and the somewhat cruder humour that Seamus possesses in abundance.

He's normally happy with his flaws and virtues, but in this one moment in time, for her, he wishes that he could be the comfort that he believes she needs and not blunt set-things-on-fire Seamus Finnegan.

"You're right, though," she says finally as she blinks away tears, surprising him out of his mental kicking. "We didn't do much else but snog... I... yeah, well... I don't suppose you can really call that 'love', can you?"

Seamus attempts to be sensitive. "I think there are many different kinds of love."

Lavender giggles, elbowing him. "Seamus, are you actually trying to be a sensitive soul?"

He flushes slightly, but in the _Lumos_-lit darkness she can't see it. "Um... well... yeah..."

"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" she rests her head on his shoulder, and he feels his heart start thumping about twenty million times a minute - both from her words and the simple action.

"Um?" his voice comes out strangled and annoyingly high-pitched. He feels about as manly as a little girl's doll at the moment.

He can feel her shoulders shaking with laughter. "Not like that, silly. As a _friend_. You were the one who was just talking about there being lots of different kinds of loves."

His heart plummets and curls up into his toes, deciding to stay there thanks to the disappointment that is his life. "Oh, yeah. I knew that."

He inwardly wonders why his fifth-year self didn't take the chance when she gave it to him, and why it took him until sixth-year to realise that Megan Jones is gorgeous and Tracey Davis is stunning and smart and even kind of sexy, but Lavender Brown is _Lavender Brown_ and therefore she's, well... _everything_ (Seamus realises that he sounds like a lovestruck fool, but he's come to the realisation that that is basically what he is now).

**Seventh Year**

And now they're huddled in the Room of Requirement, eyes wide and cautious, fists clenched in the spirit of rebellion. Some of them have gashes down their arms. A few have black eyes and bruises scattered at random across their skin. One or two even have chipped teeth and an almost scarecrow look to them (these are the people who have taken their hiding in the Room of Requirement to the extreme and have gone into depression-state, refusing to eat or drink unless forced - they are the lost cases, the ones that nobody knows what to do with).

Hammocks and makeshift beds are strewn around the room, and some people are sitting in a circle playing chess or building towers out of cards. Pairs of people sit together, some reading aloud from a storybook, and others just talking and occasionally breaking into laughter.

Seamus sits next to Lavender and Ernie, and as he looks around the room he's reminded painfully of the fact that there is no Golden Boy to save the world, no bookworm Granger or awkward, somehow brave Ron. There's no Dean to comfort them and offer words of wisdom or flash a smile with his too-white teeth. No flashes of red hair that signify a Weasley is afoot, nor any dreamy eyes and explanation of the effects of nargles from Loony Lovegood.

He's never been close to any of them, other than Dean, but he misses them and everybody else that was once part of the D.A. Even though they're all together in this, the room only serves to remind them of the fact that so many of their original number aren't here anymore, and some of the people hiding in here are barely more than first-years - too young to fight and they shouldn't have to realise the graveness of their situation.

"Seamus?" Lavender nudges him softly, her blue eyes duller than he would have liked. Yet he can see concern for him sparkling in their depths, and he shoots her a smile.

"I'm fine," he answers and shakes his head as though to clear it of depressing thoughts.

The three sit in comfortable silence, not feeling up to talking. It's surprising, though, how even if he thinks depressing thoughts, Seamus finds it so easy to sit in comfortable silence with practically everybody hiding in the room. They've spent so many hours together, all of them, that even when, and if, they do manage to get out of this room and out of Hogwarts, he knows that there'll be something much stronger than mere companionship connecting them.

Ernie sighs and rises, brushing off his trousers and wandering over to Susan Bones and Kevin Whitby, who're playing chess together, concentrated looks on their faces.

"Hey, Lavender," Seamus murmurs suddenly, his heart thudding. He's not really sure why he's going to put himself through this torture, but he reckons dismally that they might not get another chance alone together. And there's enough people in the room that he knows Lavender won't make a scene, too, as she is prone to doing (even if it's just for the hell of it).

"Yeah?" she glances at him out of the corner of her eye, lips curving upwards slightly.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he continues hastily, avoiding her gaze even though it is now fully upon him. "But... well... I thought I might as well tell you before... well... before you go off after Ernie or Neville or somebody... and before one of us ends up _really_ injured... yeah..."

"What're you trying to say?" her voice is as soft as he's ever heard it, and there's a hint of a smile in her tone.

"I guess I just wanted to say that I think I'm in love with you," Seamus says finally, his eyes meeting hers cautiously. "And I know that you might not feel the same way, and that's okay. It really is. I just wanted to let you know."

It's not a romantic declaration under a star-filled sky, but somehow Lavender's eyes brighten and it's as though, as far as she's concerned, it may very well have been. Her tone is teasing, though. "Oh really? When and how did you come to that decision?"

Seamus swears his cheeks are tomato-red. "Are you _trying_ to torture me, Lavender?"

"Yes."

"I guess I thought about it last year...," he confesses when it's clear that she's still waiting for an answer. "But you were with Ron and then you were really upset after you broke up with him and I don't know... it just didn't really seem right to tell you when you looked so sad all the time..."

Lavender giggles, much to his surprise. "It might have cheered me up a wee bit, you know. It's always nice to know somebody likes you."

"Yeah, well," Seamus attempts to be defensive, but he can't really think of anything intelligent to say.

"Well, if it helps you at all, I kind of like you, too," Lavender's teasing tone is still in place, but there's a layer of sincerity to it this time. "Actually, I kind of never stopped liking you, but you didn't like me that way and then I thought I was in love with Ron... but I know that that wasn't really _love_, what I felt for him."

Seamus thinks that he probably stopped listening after 'I kind of like you, too' but he nods along and pretends that what she's saying is very interesting. He's a little distracted by how, even with tired eyes and a little cut running across her cheek, even though her hair is slightly dusty and looks about as tired as she does... somehow she still manages to be one of the more beautiful girls in the room. Wait, scratch that. She _is_ the most beautiful girl in the room.

Lavender isn't fooled. She elbows him sharply in the ribs, eliciting a squeal from him. "Seamus. Hello? You still there?"

For the first time in his life, Seamus manages to sound not only cheesy but also heartfelt in the same sentence. "Yeah... I was just thinking how you're really beautiful, you know."

She stares at him, gobsmacked. Her cheeks aren't going pink, they're actually taking on a reddish sheen. "Did you just..."

"Yeah, I did," Seamus manages a defensive tone this time. "I can be corny as much as Dean and Michael and all those other blokes. But don't expect me to say things like that all the time."

She actually bursts into unrestrained laughter this time, earning her several curious looks from the other occupants of the Room of Requirement. Then she practically tackles him to the floor and proceeds to kiss the breath out of him.

From across the room, Parvati wolf-whistles.

**1999**

"Lavender?" Seamus holds his breath as he sees her eyes flicker open.

She's been semi-conscious for the past eight months and one side of her face is covered with sharp red, criss-crossing scars. The last time she was fully conscious - last week - she practically fell into a fit of hysterics as she felt the side of her face gingerly and realised the amount of damage that had been caused.

"H-hi," Lavender squeaks, her eyes widening as she takes in the sterile white room once more. She blinks several times and clears her throat."I'm in St. Mungo's, aren't I?"

Seamus lets out a sigh from where he's sitting on a chair next to her bed. He's more than a little relieved that she seems to be taking consciousness better this time around. "Yeah. This place is bloody mental, it is. It took me forever to convince them to let me see you."

"How did you do that?" Lavender's eyes fall onto his face curiously and she slowly lifts herself up into a sitting position.

"Oh," Seamus casts his eyes down and gazes at his shoelaces. "Er... I told them that you were my fiancee."

He's rewarded with a faint giggle. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. I was going to say that we're married, but then I thought that they might go check up in official records or somethin', so I thought being engaged was a safer bet," he explains, daring a glance at her. The side of her face that isn't covered in scars is smiling brightly. "How'd you feel?"

Lavender's smile fades slightly. "Oh... well... it hurts -" she gestures to her face randomly - "and it feels a bit stiff, too. And I guess that it looks kind of... ugly."

Seamus frowns at her. "It doesn't look that bad."

She looks around the room and her eyes land on a small mirror hanging on the wall. She points at it. "Let me see."

"Are you sure?" he stalls. He smooths out some wrinkles in her duvet cover, wondering whether she's going to launch into another fit of hysterics if she sees what she looks like. She doesn't look _so_ bad, in his opinion, but then he's had several weeks (they wouldn't let him in until they were sure she was in a stable condition) to get used to her scars.

"Yes, Seamus," she grinds out irritably. Her tone works wonders and Seamus gingerly fetches the mirror for her. He places it on her lap and resumes his seat next to her bed, wondering whether he can help prepare her for what she's going to see.

She raises the mirror so that it's level with her face and he can see her eyes go wide with shock. "Oh."

Seamus can't really think of anything to say to help the situation, and he knows that if he did say anything he'd probably make the situation worse so he remains silent. Instead he reaches out for one of her hands (which also has a few scars running down it, although they've healed much better than the ones on her face) and squeezes it gently.

She takes in a shuddering breath and forces herself to keep her eyes trained on her reflection in the mirror. He's surprised to find that tears are creeping into the corners of his eyes (although it's nothing to the amount of tears he shed when he was told that she was in St. Mungo's in a life-threatening condition). He tries to blink them away before she notices, but it's too late.

"Seamus are you... are you _crying_?" she asks in astonishment, dropping the mirror back onto her lap, scars pushed to the back of her mind.

"No," he denies, but even his voice sounds suspiciously tearful.

"Oh Merlin, you _are_," Lavender exclaims and she places her other hand over his. "Seamus, you do know that _I'm_ the one who should be crying?"

"I know that," he mumbles grumpily and she hands him a tissue from her bedside table. "Thanks."

They're silent for what seems like an eternity, as Seamus tries to pull himself together and Lavender stifles a smile and her eyes take on a thoughtful look. Then her eyes change from thoughtful to sad and her smile disappears.

She reaches behind her and plumps up one of her pillows so that she can sit up more comfortably. "Seamus..."

"Y-yeah?" he hiccoughs, and he honestly can't believe that he's the one who's crying like a girl now. Especially in the company of the queen of tearful sobs, Lavender Brown.

"You don't have to stay with me, you know," she begins softly and he's surprised that she seems so together (he guesses that the war has hardened her to hardships, although it seems to have softened him up). He opens his mouth, but she shakes her head to show that she's not finished. "I know that you're a stupid Gryffindor and therefore you might feel obliged to stay with me out of some misguided loyalty. And it's really sweet, it is. But I just want you to know that I_never_ want you to feel like you have to stay with me."

"What?" Seamus blinks at her stupidly. Where had that come from?

"Seamus Finnegan," she reprimands him sternly, reminding him strangely of Professor McGonagall, "if you ever want 'out', you have to be upfront and _honest_about it. Otherwise you'll hurt me more than if you ever told me to my face that you just didn't want to be with me."

He studies her carefully and realises with surprise that she's putting on a brave front - and that she's just waiting for him to leave the room before she breaks down into a very Lavender sob-fest. What strikes him is that she's never tried to hide the fact that she's upset (to him, at least) before. Seamus blinks again as he suddenly understands that she realises that if she _did_ break down crying then he'd probably never have found the guts to leave her. So she wants him to know that she'll be okay (even if she isn't) and ensure that he doesn't feel obliged to stay.

Girls' minds work in funny ways, Seamus ponders briefly. He's quite proud that he's figured it all out himself, though. He's also quite proud of the fact that, suddenly and in yet another first (Lavender Brown brings out a lot of different sides to him that he never knew he possessed), he knows exactly what to say to a near-to-tears girl.

"Lavender Brown," he mimics her Professor McGonagall vibe, "if you _ever_ think that I'm just staying with you because I feel that I have to, then you're _wrong_. You remember when you asked me how I knew that I loved you?"

She nods wordlessly.

"Well, I realised it because I discovered that you're the only girl I can be around when she's crying and not want to run a million miles away from. I realised that although it irritates me when Parvati and Megan and Lisa and Morag and all those other girls go off on their giggle-fits, when you start laughing I actually kind of love it. I realised that, even though I hated you being with Ron and Terry - yes, I know you were with Terry, I'm not stupid - and even though I felt as annoyed as hell that you were with them and not me, I could never bring myself to properly hate them because they made you happy at the time. And it's not like it was a discovery that I made all in one minute or even one day or a month -"

"- Seamus," Lavender begins, cutting off his monologue. She can hardly believe her ears. Seamus Finnegan is renowned throughout the D.A. for being clumsy with words and scornful of the sappy emotions that other people display, and here he is, sitting next to her, and giving her probably the most honest speech that anybody's given her since... well... since a very long time.

"I'm not finished," he says firmly. "Anyway... and you know what? I realised it most of all when I saw you three weeks ago for the first time, and you looked worse than this actually -" a bit of the brutal Seamus slips back in briefly - "well... I realised that it doesn't actually matter what you look like because I didn't really fall in love you with because of how you looked. Actually..."

"Actually?" Lavender prompts suspiciously. She thinks she knows where this is going and her head turns so that her cheek is pressed more firmly against the headboard as she gazes at him.

"Actually," he grins at her, "I though you were a wee bit plain when I first saw you -" at her irritated look, he hastily continues - "_but_ I started to get to know you and I realised that I actually quite liked you and _then_ I started to think that you looked alright. Kinda pretty, even. Then I started to fall in love with you and I began to think that you're actually kinda beautiful. In your own way."

"You _had_ to add that in, didn't you? It was shaping up to be quite a good speech," Lavender rolls her eyes at him, but secretly she's kind of relieved. She trains her eyes on him intently. "So that means that you don't want to break up?"

"Hell no," Seamus snorts. "D'you think I'd just pour out the depths of my heart" - she rolls her eyes - "to somebody that I was about to break up with? I don't think so, missy."

Lavender rewards him with a massive smile. Her voice is soft and Seamus is pretty sure that he's never been so in love with her as he is in that moment. "You know, Seamus, I think you're pretty amazing, too. Well, _really_ amazing. And I love you. So much."

Seamus leans forward and kisses her nose gently. "That's nice to know. Hey... you know what?"

"Yes?"

"I've thought of something that might cheer you up," he says, eyes sparkling mischievously. He's glad that her mind seems to be off her scarred appearance, and he's determined to keep it that way. "You remember how you and Parvati always used to talk about weddings and marriage and all that crap? And how you guys couldn't wait to tie the knot and have a gazillion babies?"

Surely this wasn't going where she thinks it's going.

He beams at her and moves to sit right next to her on the bed. His eyes are gleaming with laughter but there's a serious tone in his voice. "Lavender, will you do me the most _wonderful_ honour of becoming my wife?"

He wishes that he had a camera to document the look on her face.

**2009**

_She's a flyaway girl, all giggles and curls and no substance_.

Seamus is pretty good at judging peoples' characters, despite all his other flaws. He knew that he'd make fun of - and generally dislike - Zacharias. He knew that Dean would be his best friend and that he'd never have anything to do with Padma. He also knew that he'd not mind Parvati and that he'd even get on well with her upon occasion.

Yet, as he watches Lavender dance around the living room with their son, it's kind of ironic that the one person he proclaimed to be a 'downright pain in the arse' and took an immediate disliking to is also the one person that he misjudged and winded up falling in love with.

"Seamus, come join us!" Lavender giggles as she picks up their son and swings him around, much to his delight. The soft lamp-light cast shadows on her face as she spins, and it's almost as if - in that moment - her scars have faded.

"Nuh-uh," Seamus shakes his head from where he stands in the doorway, although there's a smile on his face. The music dancing out of the radio is faintly familiar - a romantic, cheesy song that his mother, and Dean, are fond of. "Not in a million years. Especially not to that kind of music."

"Is that a challenge?" she turns on him with a distinctly evil look in her eyes. Their son beams up at him and echoes his mother's mischievous look.

Needless to say, Seamus ends up dancing with them and even lets Lavender teach him the 'proper' way to dance (which involves a lot of laughing, spinning and arm-waving).

_She's a flyaway girl, and he loves her for it._


End file.
